Hi All,

whilst twig is well into her sleepy mode a lady at work ( who is stubborn as heck) says her tort just isnt ready to wind down and is still active as normal, she said  the temps are normal and its in the conservatory and she is thinking of not hibernating at all, ive explained the benefits (as i see them ) to her tort but she says as long as its active she will continue to feed as normal, she has had it 5yrs and never hibernated it and its a horsefield so i know it does hibernate naturally given the chance, any advice that i can give her please,

twigs goes in the fridge  soon later than planned as i gave in and fed him after 2 days of big brown eyes pleading for food ( moved his cage so i didnt have to watch him beg lol ) and im really nervous so fingers crossed all goes well

shazzler xxxxx

Hi Shazzler

This is a difficult one, there will always be people who dont hibernate their torotises, despite the benefits to them and the fact that it is a natural part of their lifecycle, so all you can do really is carry on as you have been, and maybe give her details of the website too so that she can read all the information for herself.  At least the tortoise is still eating - I dont keep russians, but I know that they can tolerate lower temps than other med tortoises, and when it comes to actually hibernating them, they can be a bit difficult to settle, and seem to need slightly lower hibernating temperatures than hermanns etc.

Well done on getting Twig into the fridge - I put mine in at the weekend, and they are nicely settled.  Try not to worry, and Twig will thank you for it in the spring when she wakes up raring to go! 

all the best

Arlene